


The Man in the Iron Mask

by kenchang



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 07:09:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17178248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenchang/pseuds/kenchang
Summary: A man seeks vengeance on the god of destruction. Can Goku save Beerus? More importantly, should he? Just who is the hero and who is the villain?





	The Man in the Iron Mask

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> Do not expect much accuracy to the source. It is only fan fiction after all.

Lord Beerus, the cat-like god of destruction, lazily sits at his throne, thinking about which specie to eradicate next, when he feels an insect sting his nape. He irritably slaps it, except when he looks at his hand, he doesn't find an insect. Instead, he finds a miniature, curious looking projectile of some sort.

He crushes it in his hand, rises from his chair, and growls, "Who else is in here?! How dare you enter the throne room of a god uninvited?! Show yourself, that I might destroy you and your entire planet!"

Out of thin air, a man, armored from head to toe, materializes.

"I am Iron Mask," the intruder intoduces himself. "And you cannot destroy my planet, Beerus. You've already done it."

Without waiting for a reply, the armored man lunges to attack. Beerus doesn't even bother to dodge. And why should he? He senses no battle aura from the trespasser. Surely, such a weakling cannot harm a god. So, it comes as a shock when the punch not only hurts, it catapults him off the floor and into his throne which topples!

On his back, dazed and confused, Beerus touches his aching nose and is surprised to find blood on his palm. He has not seen the sight of his own blood in over a century. He slowly rolls on his stomach and attempts to push himself back to his feet, but the armored interloper rushes to give the god a painful kick to the ribs!

Beerus yowls as he falls on his side. But Iron Mask does not stop there. He furiously kicks the god again, and again, and again!

#

Outside, in a clearing near the god of destruction's pyramid home, Beerus' effeminate, angelic assistant, Whis, spars with two powerful Saiyan warriors: the proud prince, Vegeta, and the naive martial arts genius, Son Goku. Though the Saiyans attack simultaneously, they are unable to land a single blow on Whis, until he gets distracted.

Whis turns his head towards the pyramid, allowing Son Goku to strike him in the side of the face! The punch is so strong, the assistant is launched into some trees, ripping the thick trunks in half!

"Whis, you let your guard down," Son Goku comments disappointedly.

Whis groggily sits up and rubs the bruise on his cheek with the back of his hand.

"Something is wrong with Lord Beerus!", he worriedly explains.

The Saiyans help him up, and all three of them fly towards the pyramid.

#

Vegeta can't believe his eyes. The feared god of destruction is on his hands and knees, a stranger's boot on the back of his head. With his foot, Iron Mask shoves Beerus' face right into the marble floor! While the sight is shocking, the Saiyan prince secretly takes some pleasure in seeing the arrogant god so cowed.

"H-He defeated Beerus?!", Son Goku exclaims. "Who is this guy?!"

"He is Iron Mask," Whis answers. "The only survivor of the planet Stark."

"They deserved it!", Beerus insists. "Their dishes were too bland!"

Iron Mask angrily stomps on his head again.

"He must be really strong to best Beerus," Goku eagerly says, cracking his knuckles.

"Not really," Whis answers. "He's not a warrior. More of an inventor, actually."

"Then how did he beat a god?!"

"Let's find out."

Whis waves his hand over the small crystal ball on the tip of his staff. The ball glows and shows them images of what had just transpired in the throne room.

"I see," Whis says. "He had used some kind of advanced stealth technology, then weakened Lord Beerus with a poisoned dart."

"What kind of poison could weaken a god?!", Vegeta asks incredulously.

"I believe he used the blood of the golden hind. According to some rumors regarding Greek mythology, the blood of these rare beasts is poisonous to gods. I guess the legends were true."

"He cheated!", Goku blurts. "So he's a bad guy, right?!"

"On the contrary, he is recognized as a hero in his galaxy. In fact, when his planet was destroyed, he was in their neighboring planet of Rhodes, rescuing an entire village from a devastating natural disaster."

"Excuse me," Beerus interrupts sarcastically. "But could the three of you discuss this at a later time? In case you haven't noticed, THIS SON OF A BITCH IS STILL STEPPING ON MY HEAD!"

Iron Mask angrily stomps on his head again.

"So, how about it, Vegeta?", Goku asks. "Rock-paper-scissors to decide who fights this guy?"

"I have no desire to fight this nerd, Kakarot," Vegeta answers contemptuously, addressing Goku by his Saiyan name. "He is no warrior. A true warrior would find ways to make himself stronger, not ways to make his enemies weaker."

"Guess I'm going then." Goku starts doing some stretches, then asks Iron Mask, "You ready?"

"This isn't a friendly exhibition match," Iron Mask responds.

He fires repulsor rays from his palms at Goku. Goku easily sidesteps the blasts, each time getting closer and closer to his opponent. When he is close enough, he hits Iron Mask in the face with a right hook! To his surprise, his punch does not even make a dent on the armored avenger's helmet. Goku unleashes a flurry of rapid punches to Iron Mask's body, followed by a roundhouse kick to the side of the head! Still, his attacks have no affect. They don't even move Iron Mask from his spot on Beerus' head.

"My armor is made of ByeBrainium," Iron Mask explains. "It's the toughest metal in my galaxy. You'll have to fight more seriously than that."

Iron Mask throws a one-two punch of his own, but Goku effortlessly evades them.

"And it looks like you'll have to move much faster," Goku gibes.

The armored hero smirks under his helmet and says, "ACCELERATE!"

Suddenly, gears located at the joints of Iron Mask's battle suit come to life and begin whirring noisily. Goku is momentarily confused by the display, until he is stunned by a lightning fast punch to the face! Before the Saiyan can even realize what just happened, Iron Mask unleashes his own flurry of rapid punches to Goku's midsection, then aims his palms at his befuddled enemy's face. The circles on his hands glow brightly. Even with the wind knocked out of him, Goku still manages to cross his forearms to shield his face. However, the twin repulsor rays are so potent, they blast the Saiyan warrior through the wall!

Iron Mask rockets after him. And Beerus shrieks as the thruster under the armored avenger's boot burns his face!

"Lord Beerus!", Whis calls, rushing to his master's side. "Are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?!", Beerus snaps.

"Well, at least he's not stepping on your head anymore."

#

Thrown outside the pyramid, Goku manages to stop his momentum in midair. As he hovers, he shakes his singed forearms and whistles, impressed by his opponent's attack.

"Not bad! We were wrong about you. You're not a martial artist, but you're certainly a warrior", he compliments Iron Mask. "You were right. I really should fight more seriously."

Goku bends his elbows, tenses his muscles, and clenches his fists. His body is covered in bursts of light as he begins to transform into the more powerful Super Saiyan God! From Iron Mask's wrist, a small tube extends, aimed at the Saiyan warrior.

"Kakarot, no!", Vegeta shouts as he exits the pyramid. "That's what he wants you to do!"

Goku discontinues his transformation. "Huh? What's wrong, Vegeta?", he asks.

"Well done, Prince," Iron Mask tells Vegeta. "Yes, I've done my research on all of you before coming here. If you and Son Goku use your god forms, it would make you as vulnerable to the blood of the golden hind as Beerus was. Theoretically, anyway. But no matter. I am content that neither of you can now use your most powerful forms against me."

"Tch! You really are a sneaky coward," Vegeta growls.

Goku, however, does not seem bothered by this revelation. He just chuckles and says, "That's OK. Super Saiyan God isn't the only transformation I have."

Goku is enveloped in golden light. His eyeballs become green. His already bulging muscles grow in size. His dark hair turns gold and becomes so long that it nearly touches the ground.

"This is my Super Saiyan 3!", he proudly announces.

"I know about your Super Saiyan 3, too," Iron Mask tells him. "And I know that you can maintain that form for only a short time!"

The armored avenger dashes forward and attacks! But just as he throws his fist, the Super Saiyan vanishes.

"What-?!", Iron Mask begins to ask, when Son Goku reappears behind him and sends him flying with a powerful knife hand chop!

Goku flies after him, then kicks him upward! The armored avenger screams as he is launched at a dizzying speed. His opponent suddenly reappears above him and smashes him right back down! Like a meteor, Iron Mask crashes into the ground. Dazed and with a streak of blood running down the side of his face under his helmet, the armored avenger slowly forces himself back on his feet.

"This makes no sense," Iron Mask groans. "His mass has increased, yet he's become faster instead of slower?!"

"Hmph!", Vegeta grunts haughtily. "When are you eggheads going to accept that your precious science can't explain everything?"

In frustration, Iron Mask yells at the long haired warrior in the sky, "You're a hero like me! You've saved your planet Earth countless times! How can you defend an evil creature like Beerus?!"

"Beerus is not evil," Goku asserts. "Gods of destruction are as necessary to the balance of the universe as gods of creation."

"You would not be able to say that if it was the lives of your family and friends that he had taken!"

Goku smiles sadly. "True. If Beerus had destroyed Earth, I would be doing exactly what you're doing now. But I have a feeling that another hero, maybe even you, would be there to try and stop me, too."

Iron Mask takes a moment to ponder Goku's words. He smiles under his mask and says, "Then I guess we're both right. Or we're both wrong."

"You know, you could use that invisibility trick of yours and just escape."

"My battle suit no longer has sufficient energy to engage stealth mode. Besides, I might never get another chance to kill Beerus. The way I see it, it's a win-win for me. Even if I lose to you, at least I will be reunited with my family."

"I thought you scientists didn't believe in the afterlife," Vegeta remarks.

"Science can't explain everything."

Vegeta smirks at Iron Mask's reply. He is starting to like the egghead.

Iron Mask looks up at Goku and says, "Let's get this over with."

The armored avenger diverts all of his battle suit's remaining power to the glowing orb on his chest which fires a bright ray of light at the floating Saiyan! Goku meets the attack with a wave of energy from the palms of his hands! The beams collide, pushing against one another. But Vegeta already knows the result of this contest.

For while the man in the iron mask, driven by an insatiable thirst for justice and vengeance, will never surrender, his unfeeling battle suit has no such motivation. Its power reserves run out. The chest beam fades. And Iron Mask closes his eyes, as he is engulfed by Super Saiyan 3 Son Goku's energy wave.

#

Son Goku, now back to his dark haired base form, hands Beerus a senzu bean, a miraculous bean that can heal any injury, no matter how grievous.

"You should have given me that sooner," Beerus gripes, his health restored. "Then I would have dealt with that disrespectful rascal myself." Then as he exits the throne room with Whis in tow, he adds, "The next time you and your friends decide to collect those Dragon Balls, I want you to undo the destruction of the planet Stark. That way, I can destroy it all over again for Iron Mask's insolence!"

After they leave, Goku tells Vegeta, "You know, I think I will ask the Dragon god to bring back planet Stark and all its people, including Iron Mask."

"Why?", Vegeta asks. "You want to fight him again? I have to admit, though he's not a martial artist, he was beginning to earn my respect. But how are you going to stop Beerus from just destroying Stark all over again?"

"I didn't say I was going to do it right away. I'll do it when I get stronger than Beerus."

"Haha! Stronger than a god of destruction? Spoken like a true Saiyan, Kakarot."

END

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


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